Redefining Life
by loonie lupin
Summary: Link's dad is violent and Velma put Corny under pressure for better performance on the show. What happens when Link can't go on? Link-Corny friendship and not slash
1. Chapter 1

**Titre**: Redefining Life

**Characters**: Link, Corny, cast (not slash !)

**Disclaimer **: Characters are not mine, they belong to their creators

**Summary**: Link's dad is violent and Velma put Corny under pressure for better performance on the show. What happens when Link just can't go on ?

**Warning : **Deal with child abuse…

_**Chapter 1**_

As soon as Link Larkin opened the front door, he knew he was in trouble. Not only was he able to smell the odor of alcohol, he had also perfectly conscience of being really late. Lately, the repetitions for the show tended to last long than usual, mainly because of all the pressure Velma Von Tussle was putting on Corny, always expecting a better quality. Normally, even then, he was able to catch the last bus but, tonight, he had been too late for that and he had to make his way home of foot, which mean he was a good hour late. God, he father was going to be mad!

He wasn't wrong, unfortunately. The door had barely time to close behind him before his father bellowed for him to come. Even aware of what was going to happen, Link dutifully obeyed and went to the living room. It would be worse if his father had to come to get him; he had learnt that lesson the hard way once he had thought his father too drunk to be able to come and fetch him upstairs. It had been the one and only time he had ever tried to escape a punishment.

Head bowed, he walked up to his father, stopping once he was standing in front of him. His mind registered the open bottle of Vodka and the glass still half-filled with the transparent liquid. He didn't have any hope that it was the first glass the man had drunk that night.

"You're late," the man stated, slowing putting himself on his feet.

"I'm sorry, dad. The repetition lasted longer than usual," he attempted to defend himself, knowing full well that it wouldn't be a good enough excuse for his father.

"Don't look for an excuse, boy. You should know better. You would have told that Corny Collins of yours that you had to go home."

To be fair, Link had thought of doing that, for all of three seconds but he had seen how stressed out the man was and how he was on nerve, driving them harder than he ever had. It was actually very strange; Corny was usually infinitely patient, he didn't get mad even after twentieth times someone made a wrong move. For him, you had to both enjoy yourself and learn. It wasn't the case anymore, not since a few weeks at least.

Corny didn't let anything like that pass anymore and Link hadn't wanted to attempt telling him he had to go home before the end of the repetition corny was just about the only real father figure, or brother equivalent he had – not that the man knew that – and he really didn't want him to tell yell at him. He preferred to let that role to his own father. It wasn't as if it was anything new for him.

"Yes, dad," he answered. "I'm sorry."

He was almost shaking with anticipation, waiting for the first blow to come. He just hoped that his father wasn't going to go on and on for too long. He was exhausted after the repetition of today and wanted nothing more than going to bed, especially since there was another repetition the day after.

He wasn't disappointed. When his father's fist first collided with his stomach, he didn't made a move to protect himself, didn't try to defend himself either. He knew that it would probably just make things worse for him anyway. The only time he ever did try something like that what when his father was too drunk to remember not to his face. He didn't want anyone to guess what was going on at home, so he couldn't afford to have bruises on his face when he showed up at school or on the show.

A few minutes later, his father, who hadn't stopped drinking just because he was beating the shit out of his son, began to sway slightly and had some difficulty regaining his balance. He went to put down the bottle on the table and turned around to go back to his son, who was on the ground, breathing hard with a lot of difficulty. However, he probably turned too quickly and finally passed out from his high consumption of alcohol.

Link sighed in relief before getting up, hissing when he felt his ribs give a painful twinge. He walked to his father and took his pulse, assuring himself that he was still breathing, before going to his room.

Once there, he had some pain getting out of his clothes, his members sore, but he still managed; he always did. He then looked at himself into the mirror, making sure that he wasn't bleeding. He was relieved to see that it wasn't the case and went to bed, totally wiped out. He still managed to remember to put on the alarm clock earlier than usual; the last thing he wanted was to get detention because he was late at school and he was certain to have some difficulty to get ready the following morning. In had been quite a while since he had taken a beating that bad. On the other hand, it had also been a long time since he had done anything to 'deserve' it.

It took him quite a bit of time before he was able to find in position in which he was comfortable enough to fall asleep. But once he found it, he was out like a light and didn't wake up again until the following morning, when his alarm clock rang.

Link was far from surprised when his first move nearly brought tears to his eyes. He was feeling so awful that, for once second, the idea of not going to school that day crossed his mind. Of course, the thought of what his father would do if he was to learn by a phone call from the principal that he had skipped school was more than enough to make him forget it as quickly as it came and force him out of the house.

He found some pain killers in his bathroom, took two pills and put the rest of the box in his pocket, assessing that he would probably need more during the day, then he went out. When he arrived to school, he was still hurting pretty badly but, thankfully, the medicine had begun to act. Plus, it was hardly the first time he had gone to classes the day following a beating so he just put on a smile on his face and readied himself for the day to come, playing the 'perfect kid' charade.

The school day was, as he had predicted it the night before, terrible. He would even venture to say that it was hell, at least in Link's opinion. He was hurting more and more with each passing minutes and had to go take more painkillers at three reprises at least. It did help a bit but not nearly as much as usual and never enough for the pain to go away completely, not even for a little while. All in all, he found it worrisome.

Link knew that it was hardly the first time he took a beating – hell, in the last few years it had certainly be a common occurrence – but it had never been like that. The pain was supposed to recess, especially considering he wasn't doing anything that required some kind of physical effort, but, instead, it was growing steadily.

His mind wasn't on the lesson at all but, thankfully, he was questioned by their teacher that day. The most difficult was the moments when he had to talk to his friends, to Tracy, Amber and the others. He had to be very careful with what he was doing and how he did it, to make sure that they wouldn't see the difference with every other day.

If it worked on most, it didn't stop Amber to see that something was off. She had known him for a very long time, longer than anyone else, and she was more sensitive to the little change of attitude in him. Nevertheless, he had already been able to fool her more than once before, there was no reason for it to be different. She still seemed a bit suspicious but let it go. He could however feel her eyes on him and, if he didn't know the truth, he would have thought that she was crushing on him.

Of course, seeing how it had begun, there was no chance for the day to end up well; it could only grow worse and worse.

After school, they directly went on set, not having too much time to repeat the day's moves until the beginning of the show. They had about an hour and, because of that, Corny was even harder on them. Link couldn't blame him, though. His job was Corny's life and that was exactly what Velma was threatening.

Of course, no matter how much Link had wanted to do well, he just wasn't able to. He was hurting too much to be able to do the moves. He was under the impression to have constant stomach cramps, only ten times stronger and he was beginning to have difficulties to breath. After a final mistake, nearly managing to fall down, he just had to stop dancing altogether.

"Link!" Corny exclaimed, irritated, before walking up to him. "What do you think you're going? You've done nothing but mess up every step of the choreography and now you think you can afford not to do anything!"

The others were petrified. That wasn't like Corny at all. Sure, the man had been stricter recently, but he had never been that cruel. They couldn't speak up even though some of them wanted to defend their friends, but they knew they would probably only make things worse. They just stopped their dancing and kept their much shut, watching the scene in a religious silence.

Link, on the other hand, shrank on himself. It was too much like facing his father for him to be comfortable with the situation but, at least, he knew that Corny would never hit him. He ducked his head, picture of penance, trying to hide his pain from outside eyes, particularly the man in front of him. He hated the fact that he had forced Corny to yell at him, he hated the fact that his father was able to mess up every aspect of his life, including those he shouldn't have been able to touch.

"I'm sorry, Corny," he managed to say between the stabs of pain that were becoming more and more frequent. "It's just that I…"

"I don't care! Look, just go home for today and come back tomorrow with your head cleared, alright?"

"Yes Corny," Link whispered.

Even though his pain was making him almost light-headed, he walked away quickly. Never once did he look up to see the worried looks that the other dancers were sending him as he made his way, first beside the host, and the out of the stage. Tears sprung in his eyes but it was very easy to convince himself that it was from the blinding pain and not the fact that the one person he considered as his family was mad at him for the first time he could recall.

Corny watched him leave, frowning. He was feeling a bit guilty for yelling at the boy when it was obvious that something was wrong, but there really was nothing he could do about it now. Still, he had looked so sad. For now, though, he had to go one with the flow and assure his dancers' readiness for the show that day.

After leaving the studio, his bag on the back, Link slowly made his way through the street. He didn't have anymore medication and he could feel his chest throbbing. He was almost suffocating because of the suffering breathing brought and, after having walked a few minutes, he just had to stop. He tried to get his breath back but it only made his pain worse and tears began to leak, from physical aching this time around. His sight began to blur, darkening slowly, before he heard the blood rushing in his ear and, finally, the darkness overtook him and he collapsed, in the middle of the street, unaware of the people running to see if he was okay.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Tracy, by the time she was on stage on the Corny Collins Show, was very worried about Link. He had seemed quite out of it and really not well the day before, which had been proved by his poor performance at the repetition, but now he hadn't showed up for classes at all and she knew it wasn't normal.

She had hoped that he had just decided to skip it to rest some and be well for the show today but he still wasn't there and, after what happened the day before, it was nothing if worrisome. Plus, judging by the looks of the others' faces, she wasn't the only one to think so.

When Corny came to them, barreling, he stopped dead in his track and looked around, frowning after noticing his star dancer missing.

"Where is Link?" he asked, put out by the absence.

"He wasn't at school," Amber answered, a bit preoccupied by that herself.

Her and Link may not have been together anymore and, to be frank, they never really were except for show, but he still was a good friend of hers and she knew that skipping school for whatever reason was not like him at all; the only times he had done so were when there was something with the show that required his attention, which was obviously not the case today.

"You think there really was something wrong with him?" Tracy whispered to Penny.

The other girl shrugged. It was difficult to say. She didn't know Link all that well herself and the boy was, like a lot of people on the show, very much able to play pretend. Of course, his getting kicked out because of his inability to follow through the moves the day before was pretty much indicating something like that.

"I'm not sure," she still answered. "But maybe we should try to find out after the show. Why don't you try to call him?"

Tracy showed her approbation and, then, it was time for the show. They had to improvise a bit, because of Link not being there but, all in all, it went okay. Sure, it was a bit stressful at time, seeing that they weren't all that used to make change at the last seconds, but it was a very good exercise, which they may have enjoyed it they didn't had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right at all.

At the end of the show, once all the cameras were off, Velma van Tussel came into view, looking clearly upset.

"Mother, what is it?" Amber asked when her mom prevented some of the dancers to leave.

"I need to make an announcement, concerning Mister Larkin," she said and, suddenly, everyone was very interested.

"He isn't there today, mother," Amber said, rolling her eyes.

"I know that, Amber," she cut off.

She was already none too happy to have to do that but if she was going to be interrupted at every sentence, it just wouldn't do.

"And he won't be again for a while," she continued, which, of course, caused an uproar.

"Velma," Corny interrupted. "I know he didn't warn us of his absence, but I'm sure he has a good excuse. There is no need to suspend him."

To be honest, Corny did feel bad about what had happened the day before. He had been harsh with the young man, harsher than necessary. The poor boy had had a day off, it happened to everyone and he shouldn't have been so short-tempered. He had regretted his words as soon as Link had been out of the door, looking like a kicked puppy.

He would have talked to him the next time he saw him and he had hoped to do it that day, before the beginning of the show, but it hadn't been possible. However, he wasn't going to let Velma keep him out just for having missed once. Especially not Link.

"Of course, he has a good reason!" she exclaimed, irritated to be once again interrupted and just a bit ticked off that the man immediately assumed the worse from her. "He's in hospital and, therefore, won't be able to come for a while."

"In hospital?" Tracy repeated, worried. "What happened?"

There were murmurs of agreements, all wanting to know about their friend's health. Velma seemed to balance her words, which was highly unusual to her, as she usually spoke her mind.

"He was rushed in after he passed out from internal bleeding. Now, I shouldn't give you more details but, since most of you are going to be interrogated, I supposed that you will know what happened soon enough anyway and it will keep you from being too disconcerted."

"Mother, what are you talking about?" Amber asked, getting more and more concerned for her friend's well-being.

"Mister Larkin, senior, has been arrested for child abuse. The police is on their way to question you so answer their questions and be truthful. There will be here soon."

With that, she left the stage, leaving a shell-shocked audience behind her. Corny wasn't especially better than the rest of them but, while they were in his studio, the dancers were his responsibility and he couldn't afford to lose his calm. He pushed everything he may feel about that revelation inside of him for the moment being and took control of the situation. He had never been gladder to be a good actor.

The rest of the afternoon passed as if he was walking in a dream, as if nothing that was going on was real and the young television host couldn't help wishing that it was the case. He was on automatic pilot when he reassured his dancers that everything was going to be okay – hoping that he wasn't lying to them – and when he told them what to do. He greeted the policemen, played the parent and stayed with his charges while they were interviewed, and was then subjected himself to the same questions.

_Did you know what was going on? _No, Sir_. Was there any outward sign that could have alerted you that something was wrong? _Maybe, I don't know._ Did he ever tell you anything about his father's treatment? _No, Sir_. Did he look worried to go room_? I don't think so._ Was he in pain yesterday? _I think so. No, I'm sure he was_. Did you ask him about it? _No, Sir._ What did you do? _Send him home.

He was the only one left in the studio when the policemen left. All the kids had left one after the others once they interview finished and all the other adults had already been out for a while. He was able to stay calm and in control until he had seen the policemen out. Once that was done, though, he had to run to his trailer's bathroom, falling to his knee and retching uncontrollably while tears were beginning to fall down on his cheeks, part from the efforts and part from sorrow and guilt about what he had done to one of his dancers, to his favorite dancer.

He didn't know for how long he stayed like that until he felt a hand of his forehead, brushing his hair, keeping them out of his face, stroking them softly, tenderly, before forcing him back. He felt a tissue wipe his mouth and he finally looked up to see who was there, even though he already knew.

"Maybelle," he croaked and the black woman silently pulled him to her.

He went willingly, hiding his face in the crook of her neck, holding onto her as if she was her safety-boat, not sparing a thought about what people would say it they could see him. He felt her arms close around him and heard her voice as she was whispering soothing nonsense, trying to calm his sobs down.

"I send him back," he cried and he was having difficulty to breath. "He was already hurting and I send him back to his dad. It's my fault."

"Oh, Corny," she sighed, holding him to her like she would have done with a little child, combing her fingers through his hair. "He didn't make it home. He had been hurt the night before, it just took a while for the bleeding to become serious. He would have collapsed on set anyway and he would still be in hospital right now," she explained softly.

She had learnt of what had happened to Link when the coped had showed up at her place to ask her and her children about him. She had been horrified to hear about what the poor boy had been subjected to, as much as her children.

Once they were gone, she had asked Seaweed to look after his little sister because she knew she had to go and see Corny. She knew he liked the boy, much more than the other dancers, alternating between the feelings of a big brother and those of a father. It must have been killed him, especially about what had happened the day before. She had been right.

She waited for her words to sink down into his brain and then let him the time to calm down. It was only then that she released him, brushing off his tears and sustaining his red gaze.

"Sorry," he apologized, embarrassed about his break down.

"Don't worry any about it, honey. Now, I'm taking you home and you're going to take a shower, eat a bit and have a good night of sleep. Then you're going to go and see that boy and make sure he's alright."

There was no telling no to her, not when she was like that, but he still knew that he wouldn't go to hospital come morning. Link wouldn't want to see him, not after the way he had behaved, and he didn't have the strength to face him when he told him that he never wanted to see him again.

The constant beep was the first sound Link heard when he began to slowly slide back into the real world. Then, there was a voice, a feminine voice that he knew belonged to Tracy. He didn't try to make out the words; she was either reading something to him or singing. It almost brought a smile to his lips but he was too tired and hooked up to med pain to be able to do so. However, he could open his eyes and he looked to see his girlfriend staring through the window, singing softly.

"Nice song, little darling," he whispered, trying for normalcy.

The girl startled and her eyes widened at the sudden sound. Her face broke into a smile when she saw him conscious.

"You're awake," she exclaimed, happy. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was run over by a truck," he answered truthfully, knowing that she would never believe he was fine. "What happened anyway?"

His memories were a bit fuzzy. He could remember leaving the studio in the middle or practice and that he was in pain but, afterwards, it wasn't clear. It was a whirlwind of flashes but nothing that could help him understand.

"You had internal bleeding and you passed out on your way home," she explained quickly. "You can't believe how worried we all were when you didn't come to school or to the studio the day after. Then Mrs. Von Tussle tells us you're in hospital…"

"Sorry, I didn't think I was that bad," he admitted.

"There is something else you have to know," Tracy said, biting her lip.

Link, looking at her, frowned. What could have her so worried? Nothing she had to say to him could be that bad, right? He looked at her expectantly, growing more and more nervous with each passing second.

"Trace, what is it?"

"Your dad… he has been arrested," she explained softly. "And the cops interrogated all of us."

There was no easy way to say it, so she just told him without beating around the bush. He would probably not appreciate it.

"Arrested on what charge?" he asked in a whisper.

"Child abuse."

She didn't meet his eyes but looked at their entwined hands, giving him some semblance of space. He had done his best to avoid anyone finding out and, now, everyone did and he must have been mad.

"So everyone knows," he stated blankly, as if he wasn't feeling anything.

"I'm sorry, Link."

It hurt to see him like this but she understood and it would probably be a while before he was back to normal. Of course, he would be better off without his father and he would soon be realizing that.

"I'm tired," he said and it wasn't a lie.

"I will let you sleep," Tracy said, taking the hint and getting up. "Do you want me to tell someone in particular to come and visit you?"

'_Yes, Corny. I need to see him. I need him to tell me that everything is going to be alright and that he will be here to help me.'_

"No, it's fine. They will come if they want."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks to all of those who reviewed**_

Chapter 3

Link had finally been released from hospital a few day after his waking up and had been surprised to find out that, not only his father had been arrested, but also convicted. The sentence hadn't been decided yet but what was sure was that he could never have his son custody ever again. For that, Link had been staying with his aunt who, thankfully enough, also lived in Baltimore so he didn't have to move out.

He had to admit he had conflicted feelings about that new turn of things. Of course, Link was happy that he would never have to suffer through the beatings again but, on the other hand, the man was still his father and he couldn't be happy to see him go to jail. That and the fact that everyone now knew what he had been going through and he just wasn't sure how he could face them again.

Tracy had been easy. It was never complicated with her, she was true. If she was thinking something, she would not try to hide it. Link knew what was going on through her head when he was with her and that made it simple for him to deal with, especially since she had never showed pity.

She had been the most regular visitor he had, both in hospital and once he was in his new home. She would try to come at least once a day, usually bearing homework and telling him about the new choreographies they learnt on the Corny Collins' Show. He would always enjoy the way she made sure to be attentive enough in School to be able to tell him what they had to do, when he was perfectly aware of her distaste for it and the way she danced to help him keep up with all the novelty was a great show.

His aunt also loved her. She thought she was the best girlfriend Link could have and she would often invite her to stay for dinner, so the both of them could spend more time together. Link could only marvel at the way he could now have Tracy over at his home, without fear of anything going wrong.

Seaweed was also a frequent visitor, even though not as frequent as Tracy, and, more often than not, he would be accompanied by Penny. Link had learnt that it was one of the only moments they could see each other out of school, Penny's mom not liking her daughter going out with a black boy but not minding her going to see Link after what happened. He didn't mind them using their visits there to be able to spend some thing together; it was nice to know that they were hanging on to be a couple even most people were against them.

Once in a while, Inez came to. She would either come with Tracy or with her brother, never staying too long, but always chatting up. She was a true energy ball and it always lifted up his mind when she visited. A few time, she had came with her mom, Maybelle waiting to see by herself how his healing was going.

The other kids from the Show had visited him once or twice when he was still in hospital but, since he had gone home, he had never seen them again. It wasn't all that surprising, it wasn't as if they all were best friends or anything. Still, it was nice from them to have taken the time to come and see him when he was stuck into that white chamber. He had always hated hospital.

However, he was now ready to go back to his regular activities, the injuries having all healed nicely. He was awfully glad about that because, even though he would never have thought it possible, he did 

miss school. He never noticed how much it helped to make time pass until he couldn't go anymore. He would never again say that he hated school.

He was also ready to go back to dancing on the Show but he couldn't help hesitate. Should he really go back? He was sure at all. He loved dancing and singing, god, he did but he wasn't sure his presence would be welcome, not after how things had gone.

He knew that at his last repetitions, Corny had every right to send him back home seeing how bad he was faring. Link could never be mad at him for that; he would have done the same at his place. But the man never passed by. Link knew that he was probably very busy but, would it have been too much to ask to just come and say 'hello'? Velma Von Tussle had, for god's sake! Of course, that was more for appearing as the concerned employer, but still.

It hurt that Corny didn't even care about what happened. He wasn't expecting him to come by and sit by his bed, talking for hour and hour everyday, like Tracy did but he at least thought that he would come once, to see how he was doing. He had always thought that the man he had began to consider almost like a father figure in the past cared about him, at least just a little bit. He had apparently been wrong. And if that was the case, then why would Corny want him back on the Show? It was more hassle than it was worth.

He had talked about it with Tracy. Well, about him living the show, not the reason behind it. He trusted and loved her, but he really didn't have to explain this. She had been stunned and had, afterwards, tried to convince him to stay; he had conceded. He would go and see how it was going, but there was no telling for sure if he was going to stay for good or not; only time would tell and he wasn't exactly looking forwards to it. But, for Tracy, he would try.

That was why he was, once again, walking through the door of the studio. Classes had just ended and he had warned his aunt beforehand that he wasn't going to come straight back from school but stay a bit with his friend from the Show, promising her he wouldn't over exhaust himself. She hadn't been very surprised to hear that he wanted to stay out after having spent that long inside.

"Surprise!"

That was the cry that startled him as soon as he walked on set. The cameras were off, of course, and the stage had been decorated with a banner, saying 'welcome back'. All the kids seemed to be on it and he had to admit it was a nice intention. He still shot a glare at Tracy for not having warned him but she just smiled to him, knowing he wasn't serious.

The party couldn't be that long, they had to perform their show, but they had been given the time in between their arrival and the beginning of today's performance to chat with their returning friend, without having to worry about repetitions. They weren't doing anything knew.

He smiled back and was welcome by most of his friends, all happy to see him on foot. All of them were avoiding the topic of what had happened, making sure nothing that they would say would remind Link of that and he could only thank them for that, even though it was a bit annoying to see them struggle not to say what they had on their mind.

None of the adults were on the stage, letting the teenagers enjoy their time together, without worrying about what they were saying or doing. It was obvious that they wouldn't be as free as they were if they were there to oversee things.

Yet, as the end of their free time approached, Velma crashed the party and told all of them that it was time to stop and go back to their place, because the show was supposed to begin in five minutes. Link thought about helping them hide all the decorations but he was prevented by the others and so he went inside the backstage, wandering the corridors. He was probably going to go and see his friends perform when the show began but, for now, he just walked around.

He wasn't really looking where he was going and that was the reason he nearly bumped into Corny at a turn. Thankfully, the man was not daydreaming and was able to avoid the collision.

"Hey, there, little Lark!"he exclaimed, with his usual smile, enthusiastic as ever. "Welcome back!"

"Thanks," Link said and couldn't help smiling.

But his smile soon disappeared when Corny opened his mouth again.

"Well, I've got to go. Show's beginning. See you later, Link!"

Link answered in kind and watched the man rush to the stage. Of course, he had to be there to host the show, that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed. Maybe he would talk to him later, after the show. Since he was sticking around to watch it anyway, they would talk later.

Only, that wasn't what happened. After show, he was accosted by Tracy and he talked to her for a minute, before politely excusing himself, wanting to talk to the host. When he didn't find him either on stage or being the curtains, as he could usually be found talking to some of the dancers, he resolved himself to go to his trailer.

As he arrived, he knocked but received no answer. He frowned; even if Corny was doing something, he would at least have yelled out to wait a minute. Where the hell could the man be? He heard footsteps and turned to see Maybelle arrive. Maybe she would know.

"Miss Maybelle!" he called out, walking quickly to her.

"Oh, Link. It's good to see you back here. How are you doing today?" she asked with a sweet smile that made him answer in kind.

"I'm better, thank you. Do you know where Corny is?" he questioned hopefully.

If he had been watching her more carefully, his mind not wandering around, he would have noticed her face closing off ever so slightly. She still avoided being too obvious about when she answered.

"He already left. He had something to do."

It was painful to her to watch his crestfallen face when he heard it. He looked at the floor for a second, trying to compose himself and looked back at her, a smile so fake that he wouldn't even have fooled one of his fangirls.

"Oh. Thank you Miss Maybelle. I have to go now."

He began to walk away but was called back by the black woman.

"Link! You should come back tomorrow. I'm sure he will be free to talk to you," she said.

'_Even if I have to lock him up inside his own trailer to do that,'_ she added mentally.

"It's alright," Link said, looking as it was anything but. "I just wanted to… I wanted to tell him that I wouldn't be coming back on the Show," he finished, taking his decision. "Can you pass on the message?"

"Link," she sighed, "Honey, don't go doing something you will regret."

He smiled sadly.

"I'm not making a harsh decision," he said, knowing what she was thinking. "I have been thinking about that for a while but I promised Tracy that I would come today and decide afterwards. I… I really think that it's the best solution."

"I will tell him," she promised, watching him leave.

'_Corny, what are you doing with that boy…'_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thanks to all of those who reviewed

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**_

Chapter 4

Maybelle Stubbs was a woman on a mission and it showed in her demeanor as she was making her way through the building in which lived one Corny Collins. She had to have a talk with him and the sooner the better, otherwise they would lose their star dancer and Corny's heart would be broken, especially once he found out the real reason. So the one way to avoid the mess that was sure to come if she didn't intervene was to make him see reason before it was too late.

She knocked decidedly on the door, waiting for him to answer and, when he did, she took no notice of his puzzled look and entered without being invited, waiting for him to close behind her.

"Maybelle? What are you doing here?" he asked, turning to look at her because it was the first time she had been there and it was strange, if not that unpleasant.

"Do you enjoy hurting that kid, Corny?" she asked and she didn't need to precise which kid she was talking about, he would knew it instinctively.

"No!" he responded vehemently, indignant that she could even think that. "How can you ask me that, Maybelle! You know I would never do that!"

"Well, you could have fooled me. You weren't there to see that kid's face when I told him that you had gone home when he was looking for him," she countered. "He was crushed, Corny, but I guess you got your wish now, he wants me to tell you that he's leaving the show."

Corny let himself fall on his couch and looked up at Maybelle, looking lost and sad and crushed that she could think these things about him.

"How can you think my wish would be to him to hate me enough to want to leave the show?"

Maybelle closed her eyes; she shouldn't have lost her temper like this. She knew perfectly the reason why Corny was avoiding Link at all cost and she shouldn't have ever implied that he felt anything but affection towards the boy.

"Honey, Link doesn't hate you. The only reason he wants to leave the show is that he thinks you don't give a damn about him."

"But how can he think that?" Corny pleaded.

Maybelle sat down beside him and forced him to look at her.

"I want you to think about what happened since he collapsed. I want you to think about what you did and what conclusions you think that Link could have reached in regard of that."

Corny took a few seconds to think about it and realized that it would have been very easy for Link to think that he wanted nothing to do with him.

"Oh. What do I do now?" he asked her.

"Go see him, honey. It's not that late and I'm sure his aunt will let you in. You need to tell him what's going on. You may be surprised."

Link heard someone knock on his door and he saw his aunt slid her head in his room.

"You have a visitor," she toll him before going away and he frowned.

He wondered who it could be. It was late and his usual guests never came at such an hour. He nearly fell from his bed when he saw who was at the door. He wasn't excepting Corny to come there but he supposed that Maybelle had already talked to him; it at least proved that the man really wasn't busy and simply didn't want to talk to him.

"Miss Maybelle told you," he said as soon as the door closed.

He was looking down at his knees, back against the wall. He didn't want to see the man, he didn't want to get hurt one more time. He was tired of it. He just wanted to get over it and be done with that.

"She said you don't hate me," he heard Corny said and his voice was barely above a whisper, so different from the usual confidence he exuded.

But it was the words that got to him more than anything. His head shot up and he looked at the man; he seemed miserable, looking down at the floor, and had his hands in his pocket.

""Why the hell would she need to tell you that?" he exclaimed, floored. "Why would I hate you?"

"You really don't?" he asked, hope shining in his eyes as he finally met his dancer's gaze.

Link shook his head, motioning for the man to come closer to him. Corny padded to him and sat down on the bed.

"Why would I hate you, Corny?" he asked and his voice had gone softer.

He was beginning to think that everything had been a misunderstanding from the start. Hope began to swell in his heart. God, he hoped he was right.

"I send you back. You were hurting and I didn't ask. I just send you back and I don't even know how many times I did that before. I… how many times have you been hurt and I didn't notice? I'm supposed to protect you and I failed miserably."

Miserable was what he looked like at the moment and Link's heart broke. How could he have missed that? He should have gone and asked the man to talk to him before jumping to conclusion. What a fool he had been!

"My dad was supposed to protect me, not you," he first said before turning his body so he was sitting down beside the host. "Corny, you couldn't have known because I didn't want you to. I didn't want anyone to. I could have said something, even the day I collapsed. I chose not to, that's not your fault."

Link looked at the man and put a hand under his chin, gently coaxing him to turn his head. His eyes were swimming with tears he refused to let fall. He seemed younger than he really was.

"I wanted you here, you now. In hospital, after…. I wanted you with me and I thought you didn't care and it hurt."

Corny let out a dry sob at hearing that.

"Then today, you avoid me and I just…. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I thought it would be better if I…"

"Don't leave!"

Link was cut off and he waited for the older man to continue his sentence.

"I'm sorry I avoided you but I was so scared that you were going to tell me that you never wanted to see me again and I couldn't bear it. Please, don't leave," he said.

He was pleading, now. He could handle it if Link was to leave the show just because he had been too much of a coward to face his responsibilities.

"Do you really want me on the show?" he asked because it was that the reasoning; he had wanted to leave the show because he had been certain that the host didn't want him there anymore.

"Yes."

And there was absolutely no hesitation on Corny's part. He wanted the kid there, he never wanted to see him hurt again and he wanted to take care o him. Link was like a son to him and if he was lucky enough not to have damaged their relationship irreparably, he wanted it to continue and to tell him what he meant to him eventually – not immediately though.

"Then I'm not leaving," he smiled.

Corny smiled back and it was like a weight had been lifted from his chest. He was almost euphoric. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. Link's aunt called out from downstairs, telling that it was almost time to go to bed. There was school the day after and he wasn't exactly healed yet.

Corny got up and looked at Link, his dazzling smile back on his lips. He looked more like the television host he usually was and, yet, Link could see an underlying residual sadness. The younger boy did something then, something he had once upon a time done with his father, before his mother's death, before the man turned into a drunkard. He got up and hugged Corny.

The host was taken by surprise at feeling the embrace but rapidly answered by putting his own arms around the boy. There were about the same height and the same built and it made it kind of strange for Corny. He didn't have any experience at holding anyone but girls to him but he liked it, liked the warmth that he was give; he felt loved.

"You have to forgive yourself, Corny," Link murmured in his ears before letting go.

Corny nodded and messed up his hair, earning himself a yelp.

"I should go before you aunt has my head."

"See you tomorrow."

With a last shared look, Corny got out of his room and Link let himself fall backward on his head, a stupid smile o his face. He couldn't believe what had just happened but he was so glad. He took one look at the clock and saw that it was way too late to call Tracy now. He would have to wait the following morning to tell her the good new; she would be happy to know she wasn't going to loose her dancing partner.

_**Epilogue**_

When Link arrived at the studio the next day, he was talking animatedly with Tracy and Seaweed. Penny was walking at her boyfriend's side, a lollipop in her mouth. She wasn't a dancer but she still did come more often than not.

Both hosts were already on set and, thankfully, Velma wasn't there that day but had to deal with some of the higher up of Ulter Clutch. When the dancers walked on stage, Corny went to them and began to tell them what would be today's moves, more relaxed than he had been for quite some time, because he had decided not to care about Velma's opinion anymore. After all, you couldn't fire Corny Collins from the Corny Collins' show.

"So, little Lark!" he exclaimed, whooping to him. "Ready to make your come back?"

Link gave him a smile and his trademark wing.

"Sure, Corny, I know all the new moves!"

Corny nodded and continued his explanations and Link looked at Maybelle, mouthing a 'thank you'. She simply smiled, happy that everything was once again alright.


End file.
